Jizan Corniche - Jizan
This site is one of the main birding locations
in the region and has good wader habitat holding the highest concentration of
shorebirds along the Saudi Red Sea coast. The site is easily viewed from the
cornice road and in the early morning the sun is behind the observer allowing
good viewing conditions. The weather was cloudy and this combined with the tide
being out making the wading birds distant did not allow for good photographs to
be taken. I went birding at first light and the previously good (July 2013)
inlet had no birds at all. One very noticeable thing was the number of Black
Kites sitting on the telegraph posts and flying about. In July 2013 I did not
see a Black Kite but there were at least thirty birds present on this visit.
They all appeared to be Black Kite rather than the resident Yellow-billed Kite.
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| Black Kite |
I then went to the seafront and looked for
birds here stopping to look at two Pink-backed Pelicans sitting on a lamp post
and a Western Osprey on another. Other birds that were seen here included three
Black-crowned Sparrow Larks, 20+ Common Myna and House Sparrow.
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| Pink-backed Pelican |
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| Western Osprey |
The extensive mudflats held small numbers of
waders with 100+ Crab Plovers, five Bar-tailed Godwits, 10 Common Redshanks, one
Common Greenshanks, 20 Lesser Sand Plovers, 10+ Greater Sand Plovers, five
Kentish Plovers, one Eurasian Curlews, five Whimbrels, three Eurasian Oystercatchers,
50+ Little Stints, one Grey Plovers and four Marsh Sandpipers. Several Lesser
Crested Terns & Swift Terns were flying about and five Greater Flamingos
and several Sooty Gulls. Travelling further down towards the port we found a
small fishing boat harbour near to the fish market that was full of gulls.
Sooty Gull was common here with over one hundred birds seen, 5+ White-eyed
Gulls, 3 Baltic Gulls, One Caspian Gull.
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| Bar-tailed Godwit |
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| Crab Plover - adult |
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| Crab Plover - juvenile |
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| Sooty Gull |
